Wisconsin Emergency Assistance Volunteer Registry (WEAVR)

Richard Wagner: Portrait of a WEAVR Volunteer

Before moving to Wisconsin and working as a school teacher, I had gained a lot of skills in the area of rescue and wilderness medicine. My duties as a park ranger, military trainer, and wilderness guide often included training on how to help people under austere conditions. I became a national W-EMT and was very involved in teaching wilderness medicine and rescue. I came to find this work quite rewarding. I could directly see the needs that were being met and was glad to help where others might not be able to.

After moving and pursuing my passion for science education I began to look for opportunities to keep my medical skills intact. At the same time a growing awareness was emerging about the clear need for planning and training people to handle large scale emergencies. Here was an area that I could contribute something of value and address a problem in my community.

I joined because I know that when a large scale event happens it will be difficult to muster the resources needed to respond. It may even be that responders will have a hard time meeting their basic needs. Such difficult conditions are challenging for most. Having spent 12 years leading wilderness trips, I became comfortable under deplorable circumstances. Some of my work was in war torn countries suffering a collapse of civil infrastructure or in remote locations unserved by modern medicine.

So I help because I can, and I want to be a part of supporting my neighbors on their worst day. A day we hope never comes but that our research shows may come anyway. If/when it does, I want to be ready and prepared to face the grim challenges that lead to a better day after.

Editors note: WEAVR is open to active and retired health care professionals and also welcomes behavioral health and animal health professionals.

WEAVR is live and ready for you to become a member. WEAVR benefits you as a health professional volunteer and those with other skills who may be called upon to respond to a public health emergency. Your health professional license/certification/registration information can be verified by state and national databases allowing for faster deployment of volunteers in an emergency.

Thank you for considering joining WEAVR.

What is WEAVR?

The Wisconsin Emergency Assistance Volunteer Registry (WEAVR), is a secure, password-protected, Web-based volunteer registration system for health care and behavioral health professionals. Volunteers interested in filling critical response and recovery roles following a major public health emergency self-register and are the only ones that can update their information.

Wisconsin Statute Chapter 257 provides liability and worker’s compensation for specified licensed health professionals deployed as volunteers during a declared emergency. To be considered for this coverage, you must join WEAVR.

Based on the information collected from each volunteer, public health officials identify those individuals willing to fill the specific volunteer roles needed in an emergency. Public health officials will use the WEAVR registry to generate a list of volunteers to be contacted. Those contacted will be given information on where to report and the role that is needed, as well as the option to accept or decline the opportunity. Training will be provided at the reporting site.